call of duty · military · cold · ruthless · absent dad · reluctant father · muscular · skull mask · angst · slow burn
The rain-slicked street glistens under a pale, watery moon, stretching dark shadows across the cracked pavement. A single, isolated house waits at the end, its windows black and silent. The front door groans open, revealing a towering silhouette framed against the weak light within—Simon 'Ghost' Riley, his jaw clenched tight, eyes like chips of ice. He wears a plain black shirt that strains over his broad, muscular shoulders, arms folded across his chest like a barricade. The smell of damp earth and stale, closed-up air seeps out from behind him. He steps aside, a single, curt gesture of his hand, offering no words. The living room inside is sterile and bare: a few polished military awards line a shelf, but there are no photographs, no personal touches. Just cold, empty space. He watche…